GP2 guides the Warriors to victory by stifling Edwards in critical moments originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – With the Warriors leading by six and less than 10 minutes remaining, the Minnesota Timberwolves called on their incendiary leader. Anthony Edwards went to the scorer’s table with one goal: to get his team to the finish line.
The Warriors immediately countered, summoning Gary Payton II. The defensive specialist checked in with one goal: not to let Edwards take his team home.
Payton succeeded at the platinum level. Diving under Edwards’ jersey, GP2 created much of the pressure that stifled Minnesota’s offense Sunday night, allowing the Warriors to leave the Chase Center floor with a scoring a 114-106 victory.
“They were aggressive on him,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said of the Payton-led defense against Edwards.
This aggression was pushed to its optimal level when necessary. The Warriors had seen Edwards’ work two nights earlier, when he scored them for 30 points — 11 in the fourth quarter — in a 107-90 victory. They didn’t care if they saw a recall.
“Ant is an incredible player,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Edwards. “At the end of the third quarter, he got his game going. At that point, you just have to give him your best defender. You don’t really want to send a double team because other guys are making shots. . . we just wanted Gary to play him straight, give him a little help in the gaps, trying to create some world without double-teaming.
With Payton as the primary defender throughout the game, Edwards picked his spots and was efficient through three quarters, scoring 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Payton’s main impact was forcing turnovers, while Edwards committed four through three quarters.
Edwards’ fourth quarter, however, was one he’d like to forget. Payton victimized him for a steal 24 seconds after his substitution and another with 1:01 left that led to a Buddy Hield 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 112-106 lead. In addition to the two late turnovers, Edwards was 1 of 7 from the field in the fourth.
“Probably tougher than Friday night,” Payton said, recalling Edwards’ heroics. “A guy like him, you can’t let him get comfortable early. I’m just trying to disrupt him and make him work earlier in the match. Just try to keep wearing him out, wearing him out. He was making shots. Then, at the end, strap in and play.
With the game on the line, GP2 was in Edwards’ hair like a new dye. The Warriors followed that lead, blocking four shots in the fourth – with Payton recording one – and held the Timberwolves to 16 points on 6-of-21 (28.6%) shooting from the field.
Payton scored two points in the quarter, shooting 1 of 4 from the field, but neither had more of an impact to keep Minnesota from moving.
“He just has a way of understanding it,” Stephen Curry said. “And the last five minutes of tonight. . . He played well the whole game, but those last five minutes he was just trying to give Anthony Edwards as much hell as possible, that’s who he is.
With Andrew Wiggins injured in his right ankle, Kerr shuffled the lineup. In addition to Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Curry, Buddy Hield got his first start of the season. Payton was in the starting lineup for the third time.
“Without Wiggs, we wanted to throw Gary at Ant and have our best defender on him straight away,” Kerr said. “Gary is also historically very good with Steph. And then we felt like we needed to move Buddy forward, and the best way to do that is to put him out there with this group.
The decision to start GP2 began with a suggestion made by Pabail Sidhu, the team’s analytics and innovation guru. In addition to the generally strong numbers when Payton and Curry share the court, there was also, well, that Edwards guy.
When asked about the key fourth quarter that devastated the Timberwolves, Kerr didn’t hesitate.
“Gary. Also, the help behind him,” he said. “Both Draymond and JK made good plays at the rim. Draymond’s help allows Gary to keep that pressure on Edwards and believe he has help behind him. Gary was just great tonight.
Edwards, 23, is one of the NBA’s emerging faces. Effervescent, athletic enough to compete in any dunk contest and lead the league in 3-pointers. For three quarters he was great.
The fourth, however, belonged to Payton, a basketball wanderer until joining the Warriors three years ago at age 29. And who has not had his last start of the season.
